Descartes Labs Wins SBIR Phase II Contract to Optimize USAF Data; Phil Fraher Quoted

Descartes Labs has been awarded an Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct to Phase II contract on Wednesday through AFWERX and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate and Information Directorate to optimize data discovery of collected sensor data and the automation of multi-modal analytical processes.

“The data integration, fusion, and discovery technologies being developed by Descartes Labs are critical to providing the US Air Force and US Space Force with transformative capabilities for ISR sensing, sense-making, and information integration for next-generation battle management and command and control,” the AFRL ISR program manager said.

With the Phase II SBIR, Descartes Labs Platform will optimize data discovery and collection through machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence  (AI). The organization will advance the development of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) through data consumption, management, and dissemination of near-real-time actionable analytics.

Descartes Labs will create a single source of truth for the Air Force by merging multisensor data sources from satellites, shipping pings and aerial targets to provide the service branch with actionable insights to improve decision-making through real-time analytics from Descartes Labs.

“The customer requirements discovery process revealed the need for automated data discovery to relieve cognitive overload, optimize manual exploitation workflows, and enhance data dissemination to multiple geographical disparate nodes,” said Phil Fraher, president at Descartes Labs.

Descartes Labs was previously awarded an AFWERX Phase I SBIR with AFRL Information Directorate and the Air Combat Command. The organization worked to ingest Wide Area Motion Imagery data and explore the development of tracklets on this imagery. The Phase 1 findings will drive Descartes Labs’ new sensor modalities such as high-alt aerial imagery.

“We are honored to levy Descartes Labs state-of-the-art multi-sensor platform capabilities to directly assist the Air Force and InterAgency stakeholders in achieving mission success,” Fraher concluded.

About Descartes Labs

Descartes Labs is a software and analytics company that enables organizations to understand their relationship with the physical world and use actionable insights to create positive change. We provide a unified modeling platform for spatial, market, sensor, and customer data that generates scientifically validated analytics at global scale. Headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Descartes Labs has offices across the United States serving customers globally.